gwunspoken - Beyond the Plan

Two brothers relive a chilly Melbourne holiday and what it taught them about saving, spending, and saying thanks

• Garry

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Steam, dragons, and sky‑high views—this Melbourne holiday has everything, including the kind of money lessons and family lore that stick. We sit down with brothers Arie and Oscar as they unpack a week that starts on a tram, detours to Puffing Billy’s living history, and climbs to a hotel on the 53rd floor where the pool is warm, the windows are dizzying, and the cold outside bites. Their story is packed with kid‑level courage and cleverness: a matched‑savings deal that turns $100 into $200, split‑second choices at shops, and the satisfaction of bringing home things that last.

The zoo becomes its own universe. Between real animals and a How to Train Your Dragon scavenger hunt, they decode clues, collect letters, and turn exhibits into an adventure with “WINGS” as the prize. There’s drama too—a brief, heart‑stopping moment when one brother slips through a staff door and the family rallies with security until he’s found, sheepish and bold in equal measure. We laugh about it now, but the point lands: travel teaches emotional agility, not just geography. And yes, plane landings get scored out of ten—an eight into Melbourne, a five back—because rituals help make big moments feel safe and fun.

Money and meaning sit side by side throughout. We talk about saving to unlock matches from family, stretching pocket money, and deciding what’s worth it: figurines with stories, Lego that builds focus, a beanie that beats the cold, a Rubik’s Cube that trains patience. We close on honest ratings—ten and nine out of ten for the trip—plus a playful debate about school, gaming, and how to keep curiosity alive. If you love family travel, Melbourne attractions, kid‑friendly budgeting, and real talk about gratitude, this one’s for you. Listen, share it with a parent who needs a smile, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to the vision of Beyond the Plan, and I've got two brothers here today, and I've been on before, but it's been a long time. I've got Ari and Oscar. How are you, boys?

SPEAKER_01:

Good.

SPEAKER_02:

Good. That's good. Now it's school holidays. Second week of the holidays. How good? And I believe you've been to a trip somewhere.

SPEAKER_01:

Melbourne. Melbourne.

SPEAKER_02:

Melbourne for a week.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Now quickly tell me, you can each talk and talk in between each other. What kind of things did you go to in Melbourne? So you told me a few in the car, but let's tell on a tram.

SPEAKER_00:

Puffing Billy. What's puffing Billy? Um, it's an old train.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um that the back in the old days that they used um to get like stuff like gold over the mountains. Oh. And it was a steam train, so they used it to get over the mountains. Um, but then after a landslide, it it was it was um shut down. Oh, okay. But then a few years later, um some people um went to the government and said that they'll fix it for free if the and they'll do it for free um as long as they keep it running.

SPEAKER_02:

So did you hear that on the tour? You do you remember that? Well done. Proud of you, good work. Alright, what else? Ari, what else did you do? Buffin Billy, tram, your turn. I like how you're thinking there. Can you help him out, Oscar? What else do you guys do?

SPEAKER_01:

Pool. Pool. Inside pool.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, so like Billy's pool, yeah. Okay, so you can go for a sweep.

SPEAKER_00:

I was on the ninth floor.

SPEAKER_02:

And yeah, and what floor were you on?

SPEAKER_00:

53.

SPEAKER_02:

Out of how many?

SPEAKER_00:

55.

SPEAKER_02:

So you're on like the third highest floor?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Were you scared of heights when you looked outside? Yeah. Yep. I would have been freaking out. And so what were they the main things you did in Melbourne? Did you go shopping?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Did you buy things with your money? Because you said you were tight with your money. This is you don't know this, Oscar. But before Ari's told me on the podcast when we've been at school, he said that he's a very good saver. But you like to spend your money, is that true?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

So did you guys spend your own money in Melbourne?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. We got you guys for a month. So if we saved, so if we saved$100, then um then um and Nan, they'd both give us$50.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, so you get half again.

SPEAKER_00:

So then we get$200 to spend.

SPEAKER_02:

$50 each, so they get an extra$100.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

So you had$200 to spend?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I had two no, I had$214. He had$250. Oh my god. But when we got to the um to the airport to go back and we and we checked our money, I had$32. He had$12.

SPEAKER_02:

You spent a lot this time.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah. 12 cents. I had$20 more.

SPEAKER_02:

So let's go. Ari go first. What did you buy with your money? And then I'm gonna ask you in the second Oscar. So Ari, you go first. What did you buy with your money?

SPEAKER_01:

The boo-boo.

SPEAKER_02:

What's that? Um Isn't it when someone cries and go, No. Oh.

SPEAKER_01:

It's one on.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh. Is it like a figurine?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. His is Blue Fang.

SPEAKER_02:

Alright, and what else did you buy? Um because it was cold, I heard. Nine degrees. Alright, Oscar, what are some of the things you bought with your money?

SPEAKER_00:

I bought I bought more.

SPEAKER_02:

Can you remember what else you bought?

SPEAKER_01:

A cat toy, Lego sets.

SPEAKER_02:

I wonder you got that money left. You got all these things. Could they fit on the plane on the way home?

unknown:

They could.

SPEAKER_02:

Lucky.

SPEAKER_00:

And I got a helmet and um Oh yeah, at the Melbourne Zoo they had they had how to train your dragon there.

SPEAKER_02:

Hang on. You guys didn't tell me before you went to the Melbourne Zoo.

SPEAKER_00:

We did. You said Puff and Billy. He showed you the picture of the gorilla.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh no, at the podcast I said, what do you do? You said Puff and Billy.

SPEAKER_00:

Your Melbourne Zoo. Yeah, we forgot Melbourne Zoo. And they had How to Train Your Dragon there. And if he did the like the No, there was like this. There was like this training course first.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I I completed it. But then Mum and me did a a treasure hunt. No, um a scavenger hunt. Oh yeah, yeah. And we had to find Toothless. I um Stormfly Hook Fang Bath and Belch and Um Meat Lug. Um each of them had their own letter.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

And you had to scram scramble them into the right word, and I got them correct because they had W, I, N, G, S, and, and this kid said like um what do dragons used to fly? And this kid said, um what's her name? Feet. And but then he realized, oh, it's wings.

SPEAKER_02:

Wings. You guys did a lot of stuff there. Now I want to get back to your by the way, thank you for that story.

SPEAKER_01:

Havani Central Hotel where we lived.

SPEAKER_02:

That's where you stayed. Nice. What else did you buy with your money?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, I bought I think like a few Lego sets. I bought a beanie as well.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um I bought a Rubik's Cube instead of a la Boo-Boo.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Um but then I also bought a It's kind of hard to remember.

SPEAKER_02:

Well that's good. There's some good things. At least you got things you can keep. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

I've got a question for you too, by the way, Ari, while you're thinking about that. You had a job for me to do when you were going to Melbourne. Something about the plane, can you remember?

SPEAKER_01:

The landing.

SPEAKER_02:

Did you think about the landing? Was it what was it out of 10? What was the first thing when you landed into Melbourne? Was it very smooth or was it bumpy?

SPEAKER_01:

A little bit. I call it a eight.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. What about when you came back to Brisbane? Was it a good one or a bad one?

SPEAKER_01:

Five.

SPEAKER_02:

Well it wasn't good. It was a bumpy landing. Because we always give a landing out of ten, how bumpy it is. If it's smooth, it's like a ten out of ten. But if it's like bumpy, it's like that was like a two. So yes. Okay, I'm gonna ask you boys some quick questions. You have to I'm gonna point to you. Sorry, you have to point, but so you can you know whose turn it is to answer. Um, I'm gonna ask you some questions, you have to answer it very fast. The first thing that comes in your head. Ready? Best thing about Melbourne.

SPEAKER_01:

The zoo, the plane.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, what was the worst thing about Melbourne?

SPEAKER_01:

Yellow.

SPEAKER_02:

What was it?

SPEAKER_00:

Got yell at Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02:

But yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Ari running off from us in the zoo.

SPEAKER_02:

I thought you guys were gonna say the cold.

SPEAKER_00:

No, he ran off from us in the zoo. Like we were in the tiger area. We were in like this reptile area. There was a stuff only door. Little bro actually escaped through that.

SPEAKER_02:

You're trying to find the baboons?

SPEAKER_00:

No, no, no, he was trying to no, he ran away. And and mom and mum went to the to the to the front main entrance and got the entire parks park security to look for him. Well, lucky that. But then while Nan and me were going to mum, this little bro came running up to us.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, at least your family.

SPEAKER_00:

And he said, and he said, I'm wild now. He said, I don't deserve to have a family. That's what he said.

SPEAKER_02:

That was a bit that was a bit different.

SPEAKER_00:

I was just like Alright, let's get back to it.

SPEAKER_02:

Did you like the cold?

SPEAKER_00:

Nope.

SPEAKER_02:

Do you like the cold?

SPEAKER_01:

Nope.

SPEAKER_02:

Did you would you live in Melbourne?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. But what about the cold? You just get warmer jumpers and things.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. If I said to you, give your trip a mark out of ten, ten being I love the trip, one being I hated the trip, what would you say? What would you mark? Ten out of ten?

SPEAKER_01:

Nine.

SPEAKER_02:

Pretty good. Pretty good. And how lucky are you that mum took you there? How lucky are you that mum took you there? Because it wouldn't have been a cheap trip. It's very good she gave you that experience.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Is that the first time you guys been on a train? A plane?

SPEAKER_01:

No. We've been on for four planes.

SPEAKER_02:

That's your fourth trip on a plane?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Where else have you always been on a plane?

SPEAKER_00:

Um Fiji, Hamilton Island.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

And also there's this one other place. Hamilton. I already said that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, Hamilton. Oh, Hamilton Island.

SPEAKER_00:

Melbourne. Hamilton Island, Fiji, Cans, Cairns, and Cairns, Fiji, Melbourne.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know. Cairns, Fiji, um, Hamilton Island, and Cooper, Cooma, and then Melbourne. That's five. You said four. No.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, four before this one. This is the fifth one.

SPEAKER_01:

No, the fifth, I mean the Cooper. Cool. Cooper Coolum. Coolum.

SPEAKER_02:

Coolum's at the Sunshine Coast.

SPEAKER_01:

Coolum.

SPEAKER_02:

So short plane ride there.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Coolum was a um drive.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, was it a drive? Oh, okay. So you've done four trips already in the plane.

SPEAKER_00:

Ari, he said in a plane, not a car.

SPEAKER_02:

How many yeah, I said how many times have you been in a plane? How many times have you been in a plane? Too many questions, isn't it? Alright, now, what are some things you've done um at dad's? What have you done at dad's so far? Because it's only Thursday. Stay home. Alright. What have you been doing at home? Because you've got a new place. Oh, I've got a question for you. Is a remote control car still alive?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

It is. Last time I heard someone drove it off the veranda. Who would that have been? What are you laughing for, Oscar?

SPEAKER_00:

We were just, we were just we just we were so bored, so we just thought of something, and that was the dumbest thing that came into our heads.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, that's okay.

SPEAKER_00:

It still works. It was just it was just the one of the back tail thing. Um, like the side of the back tail thing just came off.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I heard. I heard now it's a really short podcast because we're short on time, unfortunately, but I love talking to you guys because you speak very well and you're very honest, which I like. Here's a tough question. Now I don't want you to name names or have a go at anybody, but if I said to you both, you boys, you can have different scores if you want, out of ten, ten being yes, a lot, one being zero, like like terrible.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

How much are you looking forward to going back to school?

SPEAKER_01:

One one.

SPEAKER_02:

One? That's low. It's his last term. You got one term together, you've got six week holidays.

SPEAKER_00:

Ten. I'd rather have a I'd rather have I'd rather for a year and then have a year off school.

SPEAKER_02:

Ooh, that's different, isn't it? Ooh, then you can catch up. That's smart. I wonder how you people would do that. I wonder how hard it would be though to get people back to school when they've had a year off. Like they go to school for a year and go, oh, thank goodness I've got a year off. Then you say, right, back to school for a whole year, and they go. I don't think I want to do that anymore.

SPEAKER_00:

I want to stay home and game.

SPEAKER_02:

No, you don't. There's more to life than gaming. Not to me.

SPEAKER_00:

To me, there's one thing for gaming. Getting better brain rots and still a brain rot.

SPEAKER_02:

Brain rot, right?

SPEAKER_00:

My head's been my brain has been rotten ever since ever since I got better at that game and I played it a lot more.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, your memory's good. You speak well. Both of you guys speak well. I'm so proud that you guys got the chance to experience Melbourne. So make sure you thank Mum for that and also Nan for looking after you guys. And now your dad, a new place. Enjoy your last week of holidays. Thanks for coming on the show.